Messages about Egypt

2 After Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah, had been ruling Judah for almost four years, this message about Egypt was given by Yahweh. It was when the army of King Neco of Egypt was defeated by the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon along the Euphrates River.

This is what Yahweh said: “The officers of the army of Egypt are saying to their troops,

3 ‘Prepare your shields

and march out to fight the battle!

4 Put harnesses on your horses,

and get on their backs.

◄Get into your positions/Line up► for the battle;

put on your helmets.

Sharpen your spears,

and put on your armor!’

5 But what [RHQ] do I see?

I see that the soldiers of Egypt will be terrified and will be fleeing.

Even the bravest of their soldiers will be running away,

without even looking backward!

I, Yahweh, say that their soldiers will be terrified on all sides!

6 Even the fastest runners will try to run away,

but even the greatest of their warriors will not escape.

In the north, by the Euphrates River,

they will stumble and fall.

7 What group is this that will be covering the land

like the water of the Nile River covers the land when it floods?

8 It is the army of Egypt

that will be covering the land like a surging/huge flood,

and they will boast that they will cover the earth

and will destroy cities and the people who live in them.

9 You riders of horses, charge/rush into the battle!

You drivers of chariots, drive furiously!

All you warriors from Ethiopia and Libya

who carry your shields,

you warriors from Lydia

who shoot arrows,

you come!

10 But, you need to know that this is the day when I, Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels, will get revenge on my enemies.

With my sword [PRS] I will kill my enemies until I am satisfied;

my sword will be like a monster that [MET, PRS] drinks the blood of the animals it kills until it is no longer thirsty.

The enemy soldiers who will be killed in the north beside the Euphrates River

will be like [MET] a sacrifice to me, the Commander of the armies of angels.

11 You people [IDM] of Egypt,

go up to the Gilead region to obtain medicine;

but it will be useless to take all those medicines;

you will not be healed.

12 People in the other nations will hear how you were humiliated.

People all over the earth will hear you wailing.

Your mighty warriors will stumble over each other

and they will all fall down together.”

13 Then Yahweh gave me this message about King Nebuchadnezzar when he planned to attack Egypt with his army:

14 “Shout this message throughout Egypt!

Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpenes cities!

‘◄Get into your positions/Line up► for the battle;

Prepare to defend yourselves,

because everyone around you will be killed.’ [PRS, MTY]

15 Your god is a bull;

Why does he fall down?

He will not be able to stand up,

because Yahweh will knock him down.

16 The soldiers from other countries will stumble and fall over each other,

and then they will say to each other,

‘Let’s get up and go back to our own people, to our own land.

Let’s get away from the swords of our enemies!’

17 There in Egypt they will say,

‘The king of Egypt talks loudly,

but when our army had an opportunity to defeat our enemies, they failed.’

18 I, the King, who am called the Commander of the armies of angels,

say this:

‘As surely as I live, someone’s army will be coming to fight against the army of Egypt.

They will be extremely powerful,

as though they were as tall as Tabor Hill,

or as high as Carmel Mountain close to the Mediterranean Sea.

19 All you people who live in Egypt,

pack your possessions/clothes and prepare to be exiled.

Memphis city will be destroyed;

it will become a ruin, and no one will be living there.

20 Egypt is like [SIM] a beautiful young cow,

but the army of a powerful king from the northeast will come to attack it

like a horsefly [MET] bites a cow.

21 The ◄mercenaries/soldiers from other countries who have been hired► will become like [SIM] fat calves;

but they also will turn around and run away;

they will not stand there and fight,

because it will be a day when there will be a great disaster in Egypt,

a day when their people will be greatly punished.

22 The soldiers of Egypt will run away,

as silently as a snake scurries/crawls away.

The army of the enemy will advance;

they will march along carrying their axes

like [SIM] men who cut down trees.

23 I, Yahweh, say that they will kill the soldiers of Egypt

as though [SIM] they were a forest of trees,

because the enemy soldiers will be as numerous as a swarm of locusts.

24 The people of Egypt will be humiliated;

they will be conquered by people from the northeast.’

25 I, the Commander of the armies of angels, the God whom the Israelis worship, say, ‘I will punish Amon, the god whom the people of Thebes city worship, and all the other gods in Egypt. I will punish the King of Egypt and all those who trust in him. 26 I will cause them to be captured by those who want to kill them—Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, and his army officers. But many years later, people will live in Egypt again. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’

27 But you people of Israel who serve me,

do not be at all dismayed [DOU] now,

because some day I will bring you back from distant places;

I will bring your descendants from the land to which they were exiled.

Then you Israeli people will again live peacefully and safely,

and there will not be any nation to cause you to be terrified.

28 I, Yahweh, say to you people of Israel who serve me,

‘Do not be afraid,

because I will be with you.

I will completely destroy the nations among whom I have scattered you,

but I will not completely get rid of you.

I will punish you, but I will punish you only as severely as you deserve:

It would be wrong if I did not punish you at all.’ ”